Agent Orange

Selective weedkiller, notorious for its use by US forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate ground cover that could protect enemy forces. It was subsequently discovered to contain highly poisonous dioxin.

Agent Orange, named after the distinctive orange stripe on its packaging, combines equal parts of 2,4‐D (2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2,4,5‐T (2,4,5‐trichlorophenoxyacetic acid), both now banned in the USA. Thousands of US troops who handled the chemical, along with many Vietnamese people who came into contact with it, later developed cancer. Agent Orange has also been linked to cases of diabetes in veterans and there is also a high incidence of leukaemia and deformity in the children of those exposed to it. Companies that manufactured Agent Orange faced an increasing number of lawsuits in the 1970s. All the suits were settled out of court in a single class action, resulting in the largest ever payment of its kind (US$180 million) to claimants.